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Intraspecific variation of reproductive traits between migratory and resident populations of the rice plant skipper Parnara guttata guttata

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Abstract

Much empirical data obtained across taxa is necessary to evaluate how variation in migratory costs and benefits can play a role in shaping the phenotypic and genetic patterns of reproductive investment between populations. Reproductive resources are allocated to both the size and number of eggs, and females may vary their allocation to each of these traits in response to increased movement capacity. In central regions of Japan, the rice plant skipper Parnara guttata guttata migrates in a southwesterly direction every year during late summer and early autumn (‘migratory’ population), but this migration is not observed in populations in southern or parts of western Japan (‘resident’ population). If migratory costs and benefits vary between these populations, they may cause their reproductive strategies to differ. Moreover, migration combined with a shift of reproductive allocation that evolved in one generation may influence the flight ability and patterns of reproductive allocation in the other generation in which migration has not evolved. In this study, a common-garden experiment was conducted to compare reproductive traits (egg size and number of eggs), flight ability and body size between these populations under two daylength regimes, at which different forms of adult P. g. guttata emerge. Under both daylength regimes the female adults of migratory populations had greater flight ability and tended to lay a greater number of eggs, which were on average smaller than the eggs laid by resident population females. A population-level difference in reaction norm elevation for flight ability and number of eggs was detected, but no interactions between population and daylength. The effects of the energetic cost of flight, adaptive constraints (e.g., genetic correlations and trade-offs), and the optimal strategy may explain the difference between populations of this species in the patterns of reproductive allocation to egg size and number of eggs.

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Fig. 1

adapted from Hiura 1980). White and gray circles show sampling sites for migratory and resident populations, respectively. The flight direction is shown by arrows. Solid small circles without arrows indicate there are no records of flight direction

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Acknowledgements

I thank Dr. F. Nakasuji (Akaiwa City) for providing information, comments, and suggestions on a draft of the manuscript. I also thank Dr. O. Watanabe (Shinshu University) and K. Shikata (Iida City Museum) for collecting P. g. guttata in Nagano Prefecture. Two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

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  1. Tomokazu Seko

    Present address: National Agriculture and Food Research Organization Central Region Agricultural Research Center, Kannondai 2-1-18, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8666, Japan

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  1. National Agriculture and Food Research Organization Western Region Agricultural Research Center, Nishifukatsu 6-12-1, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, 721-8514, Japan

    Tomokazu Seko

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T.S. conceived, designed, and executed this study and wrote the manuscript. No other person is entitled to authorship.

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Correspondence to Tomokazu Seko.

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Seko, T. Intraspecific variation of reproductive traits between migratory and resident populations of the rice plant skipper Parnara guttata guttata. Evol Ecol 35, 183–199 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-021-10106-z

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